The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL) is a widely used measure of symptom distress and in particular is a valuable criterion measure in psychotherapeutic drug trials. Its reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change have been well established. However, its factor structure has been subject to much debate. In previous studies a wide range of different factor structum have been found by various researchers. The aim of the present study was to produce a short, less arduous, but acceptably reliable version of HSCL with a replifablc factor structure. The factor structure which was based on a previously described. robust thm-factor version of the HSCL, was established usinga two-step process which began with a two-factor analysis ofthe largest subscales. General Feclings of Dislrss (GFD) and Somatic Distress (SD). This was followed by a three-fastor analysis of xven items from each of three subscales. The robustness of the factor structure of the resultin scale w a revealed by the factor comparison procedure FACTOREP using the responses ofthe three subject groups. Consistent replications were obtained for the two-factor structure of the GFD and S D items. and for the threc-factor structure of the xven GFD. seven SD, and xven Performance Difficuhy (PD) items. The outcome was a 21-item version of the HSCL with excellent psychometric properties, which was subsquently confirmed using a fourth independent group of subjects.The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL) is a self-report symptom rating inventory consisting of 58 items which was developed primarily as a criterion measure in psychotherapeutic drug trials. It has been found by researchers in the United States to be both a reliable and valid psychoIogical instrument for the measurement of neurotic symptoms (Derogatis, Lipman, Rickels, Uhlenhuth, & Covi.
A factor replication procedure which provides a solution for the numbers of factors problem for multiple scale questionnaire responses, is described and demonstrated. In the procedure a series of factor analyses are conducted in which a reduced number of factors is used for each successive rotation until a structure is found which is replicated across subject groups. The factor matching s index, which relates loadings as they fall about a series of prescribed levels, is used to compare factors in order to show the level of similarity achieved. The procedure is illustrated using the responses of three groups of subjects to the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. Results show that the five factor structure claimed by the authors of the measure is not supported by the data but that there is clear evidence of three replicable factors. It is suggested that the procedure provides the basis for a significant improvement in decisions related to the number of factors problem.
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